0:03

Go! This is is 385 featuring a

0:05

live featuring a live

0:08

coaching call from our

0:10

team group group from from

0:12

maximizing marathon performances, increasing

0:14

your mileage, frequency of of

0:17

in season and a lot more. lot more.

0:27

Welcome to Strength Running We

0:30

surround you with the same

0:32

experts as as pro-runners. listening to

0:34

hear coaches, hear physical therapists,

0:36

strength experts, experts, dieticians, psychologists, and

0:38

other thought leaders give you the

0:40

best guidance possible to take

0:42

your running to the next

0:44

level. I'm I'm your host,

0:47

Coach Jason Fitzgerald. I I ran cross

0:49

country, and outdoor track for Connecticut

0:51

for Connecticut I one time ran

0:53

a 239 marathon PR and now head

0:55

the head coach of strength running

0:57

a monthly columnist for for Outside magazine.

0:59

can learn more about

1:01

me and and strength running at.com. And

1:04

a a quick announcement, later this

1:06

month, I'm going to be

1:08

hosting a live event to help

1:10

you improve your mental toughness.

1:12

Part workshop, part coaching, and part

1:14

training review, We're we're gonna focus

1:16

on actionable strategies to help

1:18

with your mental toughness in 2025.

1:20

2025. Sign up at strengthrunning.com slash

1:22

And I'll send you more I'll send you

1:24

more details about the workshop as

1:27

soon as they're available. Next,

1:29

show some love to our partners who

1:31

support the show and take advantage

1:33

of their unique discounts for you. Thank

1:36

you for you. for

1:38

offering 15 for off

1:40

your first purchase purchase.com

1:42

with with code Jason 15 and a and

1:44

a big announcement. Prevnex is now

1:46

offering international shipping. So you live in

1:48

the the UK, Canada, Australia, or or anywhere

1:50

around the world, you you can try

1:52

Prevnex as well. are a unique are a

1:54

unique and different supplement company that

1:57

holds itself to standards that the

1:59

rest of the industry. doesn't. Their

2:01

latest product is Muscle Health Plus,

2:03

a unique combination of amino acids,

2:05

creatine, and ingredients that aid protein

2:07

synthesis in the absorption of amino

2:09

acids. So this is your anti

2:12

-sourness supplement, helping you prevent muscle

2:14

damage, muscle loss, and helping you

2:16

recover faster after hard workouts. Just

2:18

perfect for anybody over 40. Now,

2:20

Prevnex adheres to the highest of

2:22

standards. Their ingredients are clinically proven

2:24

to do what they say they're

2:27

going to do. So, yes, Muscle

2:29

Health Plus does have ingredients that

2:31

are clinically proven to improve protein

2:33

synthesis in the absorption of amino

2:35

acids, critical for helping promote lean

2:37

muscle mass, strength, recovery, and better

2:39

body composition. But you don't need

2:42

to hear it from me. Listen

2:44

to our podcast listeners who have

2:46

used our discount code JSON15. These

2:48

are real reviews. Masayo wrote, I

2:50

am skeptical about any supplements. I

2:52

was curious about Muscle Health Plus

2:54

since Joint Health Plus seriously helped

2:57

me recently. There is no other

2:59

product like that out there. So

3:01

I tried this one as well,

3:03

about a week or so into

3:05

taking this. I started to notice

3:07

some differences. My body seemed to

3:09

recover faster after hard workouts, and

3:12

the tired feeling didn't last as

3:14

long as it used to. I

3:16

definitely recommend at least trying this

3:18

product out and see the difference

3:20

yourself. Allison said, I wasn't sure

3:22

what to expect, but I noticed

3:24

right away that I feel so

3:26

much stronger during my early morning

3:29

workouts when I take this. I'm

3:31

really impressed. Aaron wrote, I've noticed

3:33

a huge difference in my recovery

3:35

post workouts would absolutely recommend. And

3:37

finally, Catherine said, I am thankful

3:39

to have found this supplement, which

3:41

decreases the frequency and intensity of

3:44

aches in my 44 year old

3:46

ultra runner legs. Now, I could

3:48

go on, but you sort of

3:50

get the point. Why do I

3:52

love Prevenx? First, their products just

3:54

work. And second, they are so

3:56

rigorous with testing and transparency. Get

3:59

yourself 15 % off your first purchase

4:01

with code 15 at 15 at checkout

4:03

for now available for any international

4:05

order outside of the United

4:07

States. prevenex.com that's

4:10

that's dot -E -V -I

4:12

-N -E -X.com. And

4:15

just remember, they offer a 30

4:17

don't feel guarantee where if you don't

4:19

feel the benefits just doesn't just doesn't feel

4:21

like it's working for you, you you get

4:23

your money back, no no asked. asked.

4:25

big thanks to to two before. Get

4:27

yourself a whopping 30 % discount

4:30

on their 20 -pack and multi packs

4:32

at two .com for

4:34

their all -natural, scientifically

4:36

proven pre -workout with code

4:38

Jason. Two before, which is the

4:40

which is the numeral two, by followed

4:42

by the word is made from is

4:44

made from New Zealand black currant

4:47

berries, which improves vasodilation or blood flow

4:49

just like beetroot. root. But they also

4:51

improve recovery after exercise by managing

4:53

oxidative stress through their unique

4:55

ratio of antioxidants, which which also

4:57

have a nice side benefit of

4:59

supporting your immune system. Now

5:01

Now the main antioxidant is called

5:04

anthocyanin which I hadn't heard

5:06

of before, but but actually more

5:08

present in New Zealand in New

5:10

berries black tart cherries, raspberries,

5:12

blackberries or blueberries. or Plus plus two

5:15

delicious. I love products that

5:17

are both good for your

5:19

performance good for good for your

5:21

overall health. for Get yourself

5:23

30 % off any 30% off any

5:25

multi pack with code Jason at two.com. a

5:27

They have a caffeinated and

5:30

non -caffeinated version, which is

5:32

great is on your caffeine

5:34

tolerance. caffeine I love having

5:36

the caffeinated version with

5:38

120 milligrams of caffeine. of

5:40

in place of coffee before my morning runs,

5:42

especially if I'm in a rush and I

5:44

don't have time to brew a pot of

5:46

coffee. time go to a

5:48

pot of coffee..com before.com with code

5:50

30 % off your

5:52

order of any any multi

5:54

pack. Okay, this this episode

5:56

is an excerpt from a

5:59

strength running live code. We do these We do

6:01

these just about every month and these

6:03

are regular opportunities for every member of

6:05

our team of ask me anything, to

6:07

get clarity on their goals and their

6:09

training approach, goals to receive direct help with

6:11

any outstanding problems or questions, and

6:14

just spend some time talking

6:16

shop about this great sport. If

6:18

you'd like to join, go

6:20

to shop.com sport. If you'd more join go to And

6:22

now let our coaching Q &A

6:24

begin. more info. And now welcome

6:26

to another Q&A begin. Team strength

6:28

running coaches chat. I'm excited to help

6:31

you guys out with your

6:33

running right now and answer any

6:35

questions that you have about that

6:37

training, about long -term strategy, about

6:39

race strategy, how to stay

6:41

healthy. healthy and Really anything that

6:43

you guys? want to want to throw

6:46

my fair game. fair this is your this

6:48

is your first time attending

6:50

a team running coaches chat This is is

6:52

essentially your ability to ask me

6:54

anything. So put in any

6:56

questions you have have just in the

6:58

chat box on the right

7:00

side of your screen. screen and will

7:02

and will essentially do a first served

7:04

served approach when it comes to

7:06

any running questions that you have. that

7:08

you have. And a little bit interactive

7:11

too, you know, if I

7:13

have a follow -up question a follow-up

7:15

you know, or, I may ask ask to

7:17

maybe have you rephrase the

7:19

question depending on on information

7:21

I might need. need. to answer

7:24

your question. we And we can have

7:26

a fun little back and forth. and

7:28

hopefully we can get you clarity

7:30

on anything that's going on with your

7:32

running right now. I also

7:34

just want to be upfront. I'm a

7:36

little bit under the weather right now. So

7:38

if my voice seems a little hoarse, now.

7:40

So if my I'm fine. hoarse, I'm

7:42

show must go on, go on. But if

7:44

you are you are wondering why, maybe

7:47

a maybe a little worse than usual.

7:49

That's why. why. sleep great last night,

7:51

but. night. Here we are. we are. All

7:53

right, we've got our first question. our This

7:55

one is from This one is from

7:57

Lisa says says a chat.

8:00

Last summer I mentioned I was

8:02

running less and strength training more

8:04

than ever after I ever after I DNFed in

8:06

Ultra. mid -August I signed up for the

8:08

up for on a whim as I felt so

8:10

good. I I finished four seconds slower

8:12

than my 2020 PR, my but my

8:14

PR was a flat course a my weekly

8:16

mileage then was in the then for

8:19

at least the weeks. for at least time

8:21

I This time I peaked at only one

8:23

other week over 50. over 50. I I

8:25

also negative split the race and was able to

8:27

jog a mile back to the hotel to hardly

8:29

any soreness the next day. More

8:31

important is that I wasn't even trying

8:33

to PR or focusing on my watch.

8:35

focusing on my I'm trying to figure out

8:38

what to do with what to

8:40

and fitness with my only remote

8:42

goal being that I qualified

8:44

for the Abbott World Marathon Marathon major

8:46

age group world at the New York

8:48

City City Marathon next fall. Should I I focus

8:50

on half and and shorter distances

8:52

until then to prioritize speed? Should

8:54

I go for a a spring marathon

8:56

and aim for a PR? I do

8:58

a Or should I do a short

9:01

ultra like like to get to get strength

9:03

and endurance from hill training? So the New

9:05

York New York Marathon Hills like a joke.

9:07

Is there one best strategy to

9:09

pursue over a year to maximize potential

9:11

at a fall marathon? That's the big A

9:13

race. Of Of course, I'll still lift

9:15

heavy three times per week often as

9:18

possible. as All right, Lisa,

9:20

what a question. Thank you

9:22

so much for this. for this. Okay,

9:24

let me me about this. So you had

9:26

a wonderful You had a

9:28

wonderful marathon experience. Recently ran ran

9:30

just about your PR but

9:33

on some slightly reduced training.

9:35

doesn't look like your mileage

9:37

was that much lower, but

9:39

much lower. But you clearly from the

9:41

strength training as well as

9:43

the prior experience of higher

9:45

mileage. of higher mileage. So, You know, the

9:48

question is essentially is to do over the

9:50

course of a year. of a year

9:52

before your fall goal marathon. I think it's

9:54

I think it's helpful to

9:56

divide this time up into

9:58

three distinct seasons. So starting

10:00

next fall, you're going to have your

10:03

marathon season. So, you know, 16 to

10:05

20 weeks likely is going to be

10:07

the amount of time that you prepare

10:09

for the marathon for that actual goal

10:12

race. And then it's, and then the

10:14

real question becomes, what do you do

10:16

before that? Now, you're obviously going to

10:19

have a marathon cycle for your marathon,

10:21

but what's the best plan before that?

10:23

I think we can take one of

10:26

two approaches. And it's basically. just switching

10:28

the different focuses for these two seasons

10:30

that are going to come before your

10:33

marathon season. So you're basically going to

10:35

have a winter spring, a spring summer,

10:37

and a summer fall season. You have

10:40

some options. So option one would be

10:42

let's devote the first season, the winter

10:44

spring season, to the shorter distances. Five

10:47

K, ten K. any other middle distances

10:49

that you can find in race, anything

10:51

shorter than a 10K, basically. And the

10:54

goal here is, let's work on your

10:56

speed. Let's work on things that you

10:58

haven't been working on in it recently.

11:01

So you just ran the Philly Marathon

11:03

last month, which means you were just

11:05

doing some marathon training. You probably would

11:08

stand to benefit from switching the focus.

11:10

Marathon training to middle distance training. And

11:12

then, you can kind of go in

11:15

different directions from there. So option one

11:17

is first focus on the shorter distances

11:19

and then for that in-between season, you

11:22

know, that that spring-summer season where it's

11:24

really too early to start training for

11:26

your fall marathon, what I would do

11:29

is have a base training season. So

11:31

that's where you can focus more on

11:33

mileage and strength training. you're essentially focusing

11:36

on the fundamentals. The one thing you're

11:38

not really working on too much is

11:40

really hard workouts during a base. phase

11:43

of training. So the goals

11:45

really are building

11:47

your mileage. Maybe you

11:50

set a monthly

11:52

mileage PR during this

11:54

base phase of

11:57

training, which I think

11:59

is, is an

12:01

exciting training PR to

12:04

work on before you

12:06

try a for You

12:08

race PR. on You

12:11

can focus on consistent

12:13

long runs, you

12:15

know, getting that long

12:18

run up to

12:20

maybe. You know, somewhere between

12:22

15 and 18 miles consistently, so

12:24

that when you start marathon training,

12:26

you're already at a pretty high

12:28

level when it comes to your

12:30

long run distance. So you're not

12:32

spending the whole season building that

12:34

long run. You're spending some time.

12:36

time at the the longer distances, distances, and then

12:38

you can add in some quality work.

12:41

You can add in some goal pace running,

12:43

and running, and that's just gonna make

12:45

your training more effective. more effective. You

12:47

can also focus on things like strength training,

12:49

which it seems like you're like getting a

12:51

lot of benefit from. So I would

12:53

definitely continue. I would for you to

12:55

work on your strength, your

12:57

power, and just staying consistent

12:59

in the gym. You

13:01

can also work on short,

13:04

fast work, things like

13:06

strides, like strides, hill sprints, excuse

13:08

me, hill strides, and then really short

13:10

repetitions anywhere from 30 seconds to

13:12

60 seconds. These can be done

13:14

on flat done on You can also

13:17

do them as hill workouts do them

13:19

So you're getting a lot of

13:21

speed, but in a way of not

13:23

terribly difficult. So you're maintaining your

13:25

speed, you're building a lot of

13:27

endurance, and then that's going to

13:29

carry over really well that's gonna carry over

13:31

marathon training. marathon So So from a

13:33

very big big. big picture picture

13:35

perspective. That's how I might approach

13:38

your training over the next year

13:40

so that you're doing. doing some

13:42

different things over the course

13:44

of the year, some different focuses.

13:47

And the idea is to

13:49

get you start of the start of

13:51

your marathon training season in the the best

13:53

possible shape that you can be

13:55

in. Now, we want you to be

13:58

fully rested, so should be a week. or

14:00

so of rest and downtime in between

14:02

each one of these seasons. And you

14:04

can have a couple recovery weeks sprinkled

14:06

in during those seasons. But I hope

14:08

that was helpful. If you want to

14:10

dive into any more specifics, Lisa, you

14:12

know, just let me know. Okay, next

14:15

question is from Carla. Let's see. Carla

14:17

says, I'm a huge fan of high-performance

14:19

lifting. I'm 59 years old and was

14:21

running 40 miles a week up until

14:23

October 7th, a long run, a tempo

14:25

run, and a workout each week. Then

14:27

I had a bout of sciatica and

14:29

was just recovering from that when my

14:32

knee popped. The doctor thinks it's a

14:34

slight meniscus tear. No extreme swelling, but

14:36

the knee still hurts a bit and

14:38

I've been running when I've been running,

14:40

two minutes on, two minutes off. In

14:42

January, I want to return to running

14:44

and eventually work my way up to

14:47

about 40 miles a week again. I'll

14:49

be lifting heavy and basically doing high

14:51

performance lifting twice a week and easing

14:53

back into running. I was hoping for

14:55

your advice about how to gradually increase

14:57

my mileage to respect my legs, which

14:59

have had over two months off from

15:01

regular running. This is a great question,

15:04

Carla. So it's also helpful to know

15:06

that you've had about two months off

15:08

from regular running. So... The first thing

15:10

that I would say is, you know,

15:12

if you got up to about 40

15:14

miles a week and you were doing

15:16

that consistently, you're probably going to be

15:18

able to increase your mileage to about

15:21

30 miles per week more aggressively than

15:23

you might think. And that's just because

15:25

your body is relatively used to that

15:27

mileage level and it's not a significant

15:29

stressor. So don't think that you have

15:31

to. you know, start at like eight

15:33

miles a week and then abide by

15:35

the 10% rule, it's going to take

15:38

you like six months to get up

15:40

to 40 miles a week, and we

15:42

don't have time for that. It's also

15:44

just physiologically unnecessary, especially since you have

15:46

this background of lifting weights, you have

15:48

the background of stress. that's going

15:50

to make your

15:52

transition back to running

15:55

a little bit

15:57

easier. a little I might

15:59

do is try

16:01

to run a couple

16:03

a a week. Let's

16:05

just try three

16:07

days a week, maybe

16:10

a three or

16:12

four mile run. and just

16:14

just keep it super easy and see

16:16

how your body feels feels. the approach that

16:18

we're going to take is that basically

16:20

a testing approach. We are going to

16:22

test a certain. going to test a intervention,

16:25

and then see how you respond to

16:27

it. and So the first thing that we're

16:29

gonna test is it. a three mile easy run, you know,

16:31

run. very You know, very slow,

16:33

very easy. We're not running long. We're just

16:35

kind of seeing how your body responds

16:37

to running. you can do The next thing

16:39

you can do is, another three mile

16:41

for another you're run. going to run the you're

16:43

also gonna run the next day. to test

16:45

you're gonna test running two days in a

16:47

row. Then you might test

16:49

running a slightly longer run. Maybe you

16:51

run five or six miles. you're going to The

16:53

next thing you're gonna test is maybe adding

16:55

something simple like like the end

16:57

of a run. a run. And And

17:00

at this point, you know, I would love to

17:02

see you running three or four days a

17:04

week. a you know, somewhere between

17:06

three and seven miles, I think

17:08

you can increase to about 20

17:10

miles very quickly, you know, within

17:12

two or three weeks. you know, Then

17:14

it might take you another two weeks to get up to

17:16

30. take and then another three

17:18

weeks to get up to 40. So

17:20

we're looking at at maybe, you know, You

17:22

know. looking looking at about

17:24

a two month process of gradually

17:26

building your mileage up to

17:28

your old your level of 40

17:30

miles per week. per week. this

17:33

build, I would be very consistent

17:35

with strength training, not just lifting

17:37

twice a week in the gym

17:39

in high high lifting. I think that's

17:41

fantastic. that's But let's also do

17:43

a lot of those body a routines

17:46

that you can find in the

17:48

team in the team strength running, plans, and

17:50

in the training library. These

17:52

are routines that have a lot of of

17:54

taken from the world of physical therapy

17:57

and you're just gonna feel a

17:59

lot better. better. you're doing that work

18:01

consistently, it's going to provide a nice

18:03

injury prevention stimulus, as well as just

18:05

making you feel a little bit more

18:08

fluid and like this like this kind

18:10

of work is just allowing your running

18:12

to be less of a stressor for

18:14

you. So I would do that as

18:17

you're building your mileage and then take

18:19

you know about two months to get

18:21

back to that 40 miles a week

18:23

again. Now we have a question from

18:25

Melanie. Melanie says, hi, I'm getting back

18:28

into consistent running after several years of

18:30

really prioritizing strength training. I'm feeling like

18:32

my aerobic fitness is starting to improve

18:34

significantly, and I'm following your beginner half

18:37

marathon plan for a race in February.

18:39

My question is, when in training for

18:41

a race, is two times a week

18:43

of strength training sufficient for running benefits?

18:46

Or would three be better? Also, just

18:48

a side note that your core workouts

18:50

are extremely humbling. Ha ha. Thanks so

18:52

much for your insight. Yeah, the core

18:55

workouts may potentially look easy, but if

18:57

you do it with good form and

18:59

you do it for the right number

19:01

of reps for the right time, it's

19:04

probably going to humble you. And I

19:06

have had very strong people who spent

19:08

a lot of time in the weight

19:10

room. challenge themselves with those core workouts.

19:13

So just to say, not all of

19:15

your lifting is going to be heavy

19:17

weights in a gym. And that's part

19:19

of this. The answer to this question,

19:22

I think, is when you're training for

19:24

a race, I think twice a week

19:26

is the gold standard for lifting weights

19:28

in the gym. I think that is

19:31

the goal. If you start lifting weights

19:33

any more frequently than that, you might

19:35

start running into fatigue issues or soreness

19:37

issues where you're fatigued enough from the

19:40

lifting that it's going to start compromising

19:42

your running. And we never want to

19:44

compromise our running with any form of

19:46

cross. training or with lifting.

19:49

Any kind of additional

19:51

work, whether that's

19:53

something as simple as

19:55

strides or drills or

19:58

a a dynamic warm

20:00

-up or your weightlifting or

20:02

cross training, all of

20:04

that is in service

20:07

of your running. those

20:09

things those things are

20:11

there to make

20:13

your running better. If

20:16

they're making your

20:18

running worse running worse really

20:20

sore, we probably have

20:22

to dial back the to dial back

20:24

volume, or intensity. or of

20:26

the strength training. And so

20:29

so... Let's keep it to two days

20:31

a week, Melanie. I really think that's

20:33

ideal, but the key here is

20:35

that you can do other forms of

20:37

strength training days days of the week.

20:39

in So I think in a perfect

20:42

world, we would envision ideal strength

20:44

training for runners say runners, I mean when I

20:46

say runners, mean endurance runners, different ball game.

20:48

whole different really work I don't really

20:50

work with sprinters. It's not my area

20:52

of specialty, but for us endurance

20:54

runners, get in the get in the gym week

20:56

a week. weights and lift weights. Relatively

20:59

heavy, our focus should be

21:01

on strength and power. and power.

21:03

other days that we're running,

21:05

I love to see I

21:07

sandwich their run their that dynamic

21:10

that then an easier 10

21:12

to 20 or so to 20 or

21:14

so strength or core routine. or

21:17

know, this is the And

21:19

you know, this is the core workout

21:21

that you mentioned before. mentioned

21:23

before. you You know, not not nearly as

21:25

stressful as lifting heavy weight in

21:27

a gym, but, you know, 20

21:29

minutes of challenging core work can

21:31

be somewhat can be somewhat but it's

21:33

not nearly as fatiguing as getting

21:35

into the gym. as So we're going

21:37

to surround our running with a

21:39

dynamic warm with a 10 to 20

21:41

minutes of and 10 to 20 minutes of you

21:43

know, routines like the standard core

21:45

routine, the the standard core routine, the ITB rehab routine,

21:47

workout. We have the have the workout,

21:50

workout. A lot of different routines

21:52

that focus on different things,

21:54

but long as long as you're choosing

21:56

a variety of these routines

21:58

and including them them after you're running. then you're

22:00

going to get all the benefits of

22:02

using these workouts as cool downs from

22:05

running. You're going to gain some extra

22:07

strength. You're also just going to feel

22:09

better the rest of the day. I'm

22:12

sure you've had that experience where you

22:14

do a workout or a long run,

22:16

and then you just kind of sit

22:19

down in a chair right afterwards and

22:21

maybe you get distracted, you're on your

22:23

phone, and then after like 45 minutes,

22:25

you get up from that chair, and

22:28

you feel like you've aged like 20

22:30

years. high range of motion state running,

22:32

especially if you're doing a workout, and

22:35

then you sit down, and then you

22:37

stay in the same position, and your

22:39

muscles can reconfigure back to that position.

22:42

You know, your muscles are very plastic.

22:44

They remember the positions we put them

22:46

in. And so if they are highly

22:48

responsive, right after exercise, and then we

22:51

just sit down, we're going to feel

22:53

pretty terrible. We're going to feel tight.

22:55

We're going to feel maybe uncoordinated. We're

22:58

going to feel very stiff. and the

23:00

post-run core or strength routine, even if

23:02

it's only 10 to 15 minutes long,

23:05

does a great job at keeping you

23:07

loose, extending your range of motion, exposing

23:09

you to movements that you're never going

23:11

to experience if you're only running. And

23:14

that just helps you feel better the

23:16

rest of the day. So definitely want

23:18

to encourage you to do a lot

23:21

of those other routines when you're still

23:23

doing the weightlifting in the gym. You

23:25

know, like I think the real magic

23:28

happens when you start combining the two,

23:30

when you're combining the heavier weightlifting, which

23:32

is there to make you strong, to

23:35

give you power, to build coordination, and

23:37

also to keep you healthy. When you

23:39

combine it with the PT-oriented body weight

23:41

strength work, you know, the goals there

23:44

are mostly injury prevention, mostly, you know,

23:46

a little bit of extra coordination and

23:48

overall athleticism, but the big goals of

23:51

those is to keep you healthy. Great

23:53

for health and longevity in the sport.

23:55

Not great for performance,

23:58

that's what the

24:00

strength training in the

24:02

gym is really

24:04

for. gym is Great, great question, Melanie.

24:06

Thank you so much. All right,

24:09

so. you so much. Looks like Brian

24:11

has a question here. Brian has a Brian

24:13

is targeting a marathon and

24:15

he says that and he says that is

24:18

16 weeks out from his

24:20

goal marathon. What should I

24:22

be doing now to get

24:24

ready to start marathon training? training

24:26

January 20th? That is

24:28

a great question. let me look at a

24:30

calendar. at So a let's see.

24:32

let's see, that Monday, January

24:35

you basically have basically have

24:37

a half a half weeks. I think which

24:39

I think is a good

24:41

amount of time to basically create

24:43

a little pre base training plan.

24:45

what I So what I would

24:47

do over the next three weeks

24:50

just just gradually build your mileage,

24:52

you know, add a couple of

24:54

miles to your overall volume. your long

24:56

run your long know, maybe

24:58

buy. over the you know, two miles over the

25:00

next three weeks. to Uh, I'd

25:02

be curious to long run your long is

25:04

is right now. I like know, I

25:06

like to say that. complete a complete

25:08

bare minimum. marathoners

25:11

should be should be comfortable with

25:13

a long long run, 16

25:15

weeks out from the marathon. that's

25:17

a a bare minimum because then because of

25:20

our time time. those 16 weeks is

25:22

going to be spent building the

25:24

distance of that long run. of that And

25:26

run. know, it, know, the body just takes

25:28

time to adapt to that stress. it's

25:30

And it's not the perfect scenario,

25:33

but it will help you get to

25:35

the finish line of that marathon.

25:37

So earlier in the call, I was

25:39

talking about, you know, getting your

25:41

mileage, your long run mileage up

25:43

to maybe 15 to 18 18. your marathon

25:45

plan starts. Now of of course, this has

25:47

to be done progressively. has to be. done

25:49

safely safely comfortably. but if it it can be done,

25:52

just you're just going to be able to

25:54

spend more time at the longer distances,

25:56

and you're going to be able to add

25:58

more quality to those long runs. runs. And

26:00

so you're gonna be able to

26:02

run a much better marathon

26:04

because it, all right. So Brian's

26:06

currently running a 13 mile

26:08

long run. I think that's amazing.

26:10

If you could hit 15

26:12

once, I think that would be

26:14

ideal. And then, you know,

26:16

basically do three long runs, you

26:18

know, maybe 13, 14, 15

26:21

miles or maybe 14, 15, 15,

26:23

if that feels comfortable for

26:25

you. But just take a couple

26:27

of days off before your

26:29

marathon plan starts. that's because I

26:31

don't want you starting your

26:33

plan fatigued or tired. Now you're

26:35

not doing high intensity right

26:37

now. That's probably the last thing

26:39

that you wanna do, but

26:41

what we can build some volume.

26:43

So last build your volume, build

26:45

your long run distance. know,

26:48

this is essentially, you know, So marathon

26:50

training is kind of like glorified

26:53

base training where the goals are just

26:55

aerobic development as much as possible,

26:57

especially like the higher end aerobic development.

26:59

And so we can continue that

27:01

trend with, you know, your pre -season

27:03

that you currently have. It's not a

27:05

terribly long time, but we can

27:07

get that long run up a little

27:10

bit. We can get your mileage

27:12

up a little bit and just take

27:14

maybe three to five days off

27:16

right before your plan starts on January

27:18

20th to ensure that you're rested,

27:20

you've absorbed all that hard work. You

27:22

know, you're helping yourself recover and

27:24

really keep any little niggles at bay.

27:27

then you will not only be

27:29

rested at the start of your plan,

27:31

but you'll also be in much

27:33

better shape at the start of your

27:35

plan. Okay, another

27:37

great question from Lisa. I know many

27:39

say to combine strength and workout

27:41

days to keep hard days hard, but

27:43

I often find I like one

27:45

day a week at least to do

27:47

only strength the day before a

27:49

workout because I'm extra fresh for strength.

27:51

Is this okay as long as

27:54

I still perform well in workouts and

27:56

I'm not limited by soreness? Yeah,

27:58

I think that's fine, you know? Like

28:00

do I... I think that, you know,

28:02

us running coaches can sit here can sit

28:04

you know, philosophize about

28:06

the ideal. ideal scheduling

28:08

of weightlifting workouts for the

28:11

endurance runner, but you

28:13

know, truthfully at the end of the day. the

28:15

end of the priority is just

28:17

to get them completed. is And

28:19

the number two priority is to

28:21

get them completed in a way

28:23

in which they're not going to

28:25

unnecessarily interfere with your running. So,

28:28

running. You know it's funny funny I

28:30

would actually like like one

28:32

thing you don't do is to lift

28:34

the day before a workout. I

28:36

might say might the day after

28:38

a workout. a workout, again, if it's

28:40

working for you and you're not feeling sore,

28:43

you're not feeling like the not

28:45

session is compromising the workout the

28:47

next day in any way. workout

28:50

the I say go for it. in any way, then

28:52

I say go for it. In fact, some

28:54

trained runners runners and

28:56

weightlifters find that that.

28:58

they feel better the day after

29:00

a lift. almost like the day after

29:02

you might run like very short

29:04

run run some strides because their nervous

29:06

system is is up and the they've

29:09

increased muscle tension in their

29:11

legs. you're you're essentially priming yourself

29:13

for that hard workout. I'm a And

29:15

I'm a big believer in

29:17

priming. I think what you do

29:19

the day before a workout or or

29:21

a race is really important

29:23

if you wanna feel your best

29:25

on race day. race day. Lifting

29:27

is an unconventional, way

29:30

to prime yourself way to

29:32

prime yourself for a hard work

29:34

the next day. It doesn't

29:36

work for most runners, which is why I

29:38

it, do not recommend it, like but working it

29:40

seems like it's working for you. So to

29:42

sounds great to me. you're just

29:44

make sure you're getting enough protein

29:46

so that you're recovering enough enough fueling

29:48

with enough with that you have

29:50

the energy for, have the kind of

29:52

a back to back kind a days

29:54

in a row type of format. format.

29:56

Yeah, and Lisa Lisa followed up and says,

29:59

I think think it helps me focus better on

30:01

my running form. Yeah, I'm not

30:03

surprised to hear that Lisa. A

30:05

lot of the times when you

30:07

start lifting, you become more aware

30:09

of your muscles, how you use

30:12

those muscles, and your proprioception, or

30:14

like where your body is in

30:16

space. And if you're doing that

30:18

the day before work out, you're

30:20

probably going to feel that the

30:23

next day. And it's a great

30:25

little forcing function to help you

30:27

improve your running form, too. Okay.

30:29

So. Brian says, how do you

30:31

feel about two tune-up races, a

30:33

half and a 20-mileer, in lead

30:36

up to a marathon? I'm in

30:38

favor of two tune-up races. I

30:40

don't think I'm in favor of

30:42

a 20-mile race in the lead-up

30:44

to the marathon, because there's very

30:46

little difference between a 20-mileer and

30:49

a marathon. Now, most of the

30:51

difficulty of a marathon is in

30:53

the final 10-K, so the 20-mileer

30:55

is going to be very easier

30:57

on your body. But with that

31:00

said, physiologically, it's not really stressing

31:02

a different system, and it still

31:04

might be significant in its recovery

31:06

demands. So I might be a

31:08

little bit hesitant to have you

31:10

do a 20-miler, I might have

31:13

you do a 10-K, then a

31:15

half-marathon, and then the marathon. I

31:17

think generally speaking, you know, I'm

31:19

starting to... you know, somewhat jokingly

31:21

think that my life's work is

31:24

to get runners to stop racing

31:26

so many marathons and instead focus

31:28

on shorter distances, because the route

31:30

to improvement in the longer distances

31:32

is through the shorter distances. So

31:34

don't race a 20-miler. Race a

31:37

10K. I would much rather see

31:39

that. Just a quick break to

31:41

thank our partner Two Before, a

31:43

powerful sports supplement made from New

31:45

Zealand black currents, designed to increase

31:47

endurance, manage inflammation, support immunity, and

31:50

promote adaptation. Two Before helped. boost

31:52

performance by increasing blood flow, making

31:54

it more efficient for the body

31:56

to pump oxygenated nutrient-rich blood into

31:58

the muscles. Boost your performance before

32:01

your next big workout and support

32:03

your immune system with two before's

32:05

high antioxidant pre-workout. Use code Jason

32:07

for 30% off their 20 pack

32:09

and multi-serve packs at two before.com.

32:11

Hey, just a short break for

32:14

our partner Prevenex, the only supplement

32:16

company that I trust. They've just

32:18

released their new product Muscle Health

32:20

Plus. This is your anti-sornness supplement,

32:22

a combination of creatine, branch chain,

32:25

and essential amino acids, as well

32:27

as ingredients to aid protein synthesis

32:29

and absorption. Use code Jason15 for

32:31

15% off your first order at

32:33

prevenex.com. Now if you're a master's

32:35

runner, you want to build some

32:38

muscle or if you're particularly injury

32:40

prone, Muscle Health Plus is going

32:42

to help you hold onto your

32:44

muscle and rebound faster from those

32:46

workouts and long runs. See all

32:48

the details at prevenex.com and be

32:51

sure to use code Jason15 to

32:53

save 15% off your first purchase.

32:55

Carla has another question. I'm really

32:57

busy at work for the next

32:59

three years, and so I was

33:02

thinking I would focus on shorter

33:04

distances instead of the marathon. I

33:06

ran my first marathon at age

33:08

57. Congratulations, Carla. Can I just

33:10

do your 5K training plans in

33:12

high performance lifting over and over

33:15

with rests in between and try

33:17

to work my way up to

33:19

the advanced plan? Yeah, 100% I

33:21

think that's a pretty good strategy.

33:23

Yeah, I may recommend once in

33:25

a while you train for a

33:28

10K or... you know, throw in

33:30

other types of races as tune-up

33:32

races in your 5K training plan.

33:34

So you don't necessarily need to

33:36

race the 5K over and over

33:39

again, but focusing a little bit

33:41

more on the shorter distances, I

33:43

think is a great strategy. Carla

33:45

goes on to say, I believe

33:47

I can get faster despite my...

33:49

age and I would I

33:52

would love to

33:54

run a 5K

33:56

at around pace. I'd be

33:58

really I'd be

34:00

really happy if

34:03

I could do

34:05

that. Yeah, let's do it, let's

34:07

do it, I don't think you Yeah, I

34:09

don't think you need to

34:11

necessarily change too much in the

34:13

5K training plans that are

34:15

included in high performance lifting. Now

34:17

these are slightly more advanced

34:19

plans program itself is just a

34:21

little bit more advanced. bit more advanced. the

34:23

goal of working up to

34:25

the advanced plan. is is

34:27

basically gonna give you more

34:29

volume, slightly more challenging

34:31

workouts and denser workouts. So

34:33

the workouts might be longer

34:35

also might be they also might

34:37

be more frequent. basically going to

34:39

be you're basically going to

34:41

things. On the one hand, different things.

34:44

to be On the one hand,

34:46

you're gonna be progressing the actual training

34:48

plan itself, going from a beginner

34:50

plan to the intermediate the the advanced. you

34:52

And you can certainly repeat one

34:54

of them. them. for a season. for a

34:56

season, that's totally fine too. the other Now the other

34:58

thing that you're going to be progressing. be are

35:01

your are your because presumably over

35:03

the course of course of two,

35:05

three, four. K oriented -oriented training

35:07

seasons, you're going to be getting

35:09

better. At least that's the goal.

35:11

that's hope so, hope so, Now, if

35:13

you're getting better, then then five pace

35:15

is going to change. If your

35:17

fitness level is increasing. is You

35:19

know, your know, might gradually drift

35:21

a little bit faster. bit So So...

35:23

training paces are going to

35:25

get faster as well as the

35:27

overall difficulty of the training

35:30

plan itself. So I So I think

35:32

that's a wonderful strategy. Coach

35:34

Coach Let's do it. do it. All right,

35:36

All right, good question from Melanie.

35:38

I've heard a lot about the

35:40

importance of the two training. Many friends

35:42

swear by the swear by the I

35:45

found that my found typically means

35:47

my heart rate is high, my

35:49

heart or low, 150s, which is

35:51

slightly above my zone zone two. Is

35:53

Is this okay? I I feel like running slowly all

35:55

the time is just going to train me to

35:57

run slow. to run slow. Yeah, I would

35:59

I would agree you. Melanie and you

36:01

know a dirty little secret in

36:03

the running community is that every

36:05

fast runner knows that to get

36:07

faster you have to train fast.

36:09

You can't just do all slow

36:11

running and that's my big gripe

36:13

with the Mathotone method is that

36:15

it artificially constrains runners to a

36:18

very easy effort and I think

36:20

some runs should be an easy

36:22

effort. I think at some points

36:24

of a season. And even indeed,

36:26

some entire seasons should be mostly

36:28

easy. I'm thinking kind of like

36:30

a base training phase of training,

36:32

but there are going to be

36:34

times where your heart rate gets

36:36

high. You know, just think about

36:38

you might be doing some base

36:40

training and you're not doing any

36:43

workouts and you're keeping your heart

36:45

rate under that mathotone, you know,

36:47

aerobic heart rate that you can

36:49

calculate. What if you want to

36:51

run strides? Your heart rate is

36:53

going to spike a little bit

36:55

when you run a 20 or

36:57

25 second stride that might have

36:59

you approaching or going faster than

37:01

your mile race pace. Now, it's

37:03

just for a couple seconds. Is

37:05

that detrimental? I certainly think not.

37:07

I actually think it's beneficial, whereas

37:10

a mathotone method purist might say

37:12

that that is not adhering to

37:14

the spirit of the mathotone method.

37:16

I like to take a hybrid

37:18

approach to this where some runs

37:20

are going to be labeled recovery

37:22

runs. So let's say you run

37:24

five days a week. One run

37:26

a week might be a short,

37:28

easy run that is dedicated to

37:30

recovery, where you might want to

37:32

keep us a lower heart rate,

37:35

you know, maybe in the 130s.

37:37

But your other runs are going

37:39

to vary a little bit, you

37:41

know, and I think this idea

37:43

that Every easy run has to

37:45

be a zone two run. I

37:47

think is it's just not realistic

37:49

and it's not how runners actually

37:51

train out in the. real world.

37:53

And let me give you an

37:55

example. Let's say you have a

37:57

five mile easy run. Now, your

37:59

Maffetone friends might say, I got

38:02

to keep, you know, this whole

38:04

run under a certain heart rate.

38:06

If you have a friend who

38:08

has run track and field or

38:10

cross country, they're going to execute

38:12

their run the way those athletes

38:14

would, or like a lot of

38:16

the East African marathon runners, basically

38:18

as a progression. The first mile,

38:20

the first five or 10 minutes

38:22

are going to be really easy.

38:24

It's part of the warm-up. And

38:27

there really isn't a huge pace

38:29

goal for the very beginning of

38:31

the run. Let's just warm up,

38:33

let's ease into the run, let's

38:35

ease into the run, let's find

38:37

your, find a good rhythm, and

38:39

then for most of the run,

38:41

we do want you in zone

38:43

two. High zone two is okay.

38:45

And then at the end of

38:47

the run, if you're feeling good,

38:49

you're feeling good, you're a little

38:52

bit. dehydrated, which happens, that's normal,

38:54

your heart rate's going to climb

38:56

a little bit. And if you

38:58

find yourself in zone three, I

39:00

think that's generally okay, as long

39:02

as it's not for a majority

39:04

of the run. Melanie, I probably

39:06

would like to see you running

39:08

not in the 150s all the

39:10

time for your heart rate. You

39:12

know, heart rates in the 150s

39:14

generally seem to me. to be

39:16

probably more of a zone three

39:19

heart rate. And so, you know,

39:21

the only problem with zone three

39:23

is that it's harder on your

39:25

body, mechanically speaking. You're getting more

39:27

impact. And so if you were

39:29

trying to do all of your

39:31

mileage at a zone three effort,

39:33

you're just gonna feel more beat

39:35

up and the injury risk increases.

39:37

Now, the other dirty little truth

39:39

about zone two is that it

39:41

doesn't give you a tremendous amount

39:44

of positive adaptations. So you need

39:46

a high volume of it. So

39:48

if you see someone running Maffetone

39:50

method or they're sticking strictly to

39:52

zone two, but they're only running

39:54

like 15 miles a week, they're

39:56

just not stressing their body too

39:58

much and they're likely not going.

40:00

to experience as many many

40:02

adaptations, i .e.

40:05

improvements. who has a someone who

40:07

has a more balanced training approach

40:09

might experience. So all that that to

40:11

say, Melanie, I think it's I

40:13

think it's generally reserve one day I would

40:15

reserve one day a week where you

40:18

have a slower, easier run, where

40:20

your heart rate might be in the

40:22

but for the But for the most part,

40:24

as long as you're adhering to

40:26

this this like, start easy. you have the option to

40:28

end a little faster if you want

40:30

to, but most of it should be

40:32

in that, you know, in that, you know, 140's heart

40:34

most of the run approach, approach, I

40:36

think you're gonna be doing just fine to

40:38

be doing just be feeling good. going to be

40:40

thing good. The other well, how do

40:43

you feel? how If this is the

40:45

approach this is the been using, Melanie, been

40:47

using, Melanie, don't have injuries,

40:49

you're improving, you you

40:51

feel good. what more can what more can

40:53

we ask for? you're moving in the

40:55

right direction. I love to see

40:57

it. it. And so, know, know, I

40:59

have have philosophy of if philosophy of fix

41:01

it ain't broke, don't fix

41:03

it. really well, If working really well,

41:05

let's double down on it. Let's continue to

41:08

do it we need we need to iterate and

41:10

do something a little bit different. different.

41:12

And the wonderful thing about training

41:14

is that there's almost an

41:16

unlimited number of ways that you

41:18

can change that you modify training, modify

41:20

and training, training, and yourself whatever

41:23

the next step is you you

41:25

need to get to the

41:27

next level of performance. level of Okay,

41:29

Lisa is following up and she

41:31

said, I love Melanie's question. I

41:33

often feel like max heart rate

41:35

used to calculate Heartrate based off

41:38

of limited research. I think it's

41:40

more unreliable for very fit I think it's

41:42

more we can race well above

41:44

our predicted max rate. we Yeah, race well

41:46

above our I would definitely not Yeah,

41:48

100% Lisa, I would you know,

41:51

the old use, you know, the old your

41:53

age your age. calculation. A lot of the times

41:55

lot of the times two estimated

41:57

heart rates are not accurate. So

41:59

you just, going to really take

42:01

this stuff with a grain of

42:03

salt. Not to mention the fact

42:05

that zones are actually based on

42:08

lactate levels, not on heart rates.

42:10

Now, we use heart rate as

42:12

a proxy for lactate because we're

42:14

not running around pricking our finger,

42:16

doing lactate tests during our easy

42:19

runs all the time. At least

42:21

I'm not sure what you guys

42:23

are doing out there, but most

42:25

of us are not doing that.

42:27

And so, you know, you're zone

42:30

two. threshold is when lactate levels

42:32

start to consistently rise. But zone

42:34

two is when lactate levels are

42:36

stable. Now, lactate threshold or anaerobic

42:39

threshold, lots of terms for this

42:41

other second threshold, this is when

42:43

lactate levels are rising at a

42:45

rate that's unsustainable. So you reach

42:47

an increasing rate of lactate your

42:50

body can't really deal with in

42:52

the long term. So it's unsustainable.

42:54

You can't process that lactate. You

42:56

can't use it for fuel. You

42:58

can't clear it. And it starts

43:01

to build up. You start experiencing

43:03

more hydrogen ions. That's what gives

43:05

you that burning sensation in your

43:07

muscles. You know, remember the the

43:09

final lap of a mile, the

43:12

final 400 meters of a mile,

43:14

or the final mile of a

43:16

5K, when you're trying to kick

43:18

it in and your legs feel

43:20

like they're on fire, that is

43:23

the anaerobic experience. When you're an

43:25

oxygen debt, you don't have as

43:27

much oxygen to fuel your working

43:29

muscles, and so, you know, you

43:31

start using the anaerobic energy pathways,

43:34

it starts to hurt, but we

43:36

can certainly use heart rate as

43:38

a proxy for these lactate levels,

43:40

but again, it's a proxy. It's

43:43

not, it's not exact. And, you

43:45

know, Lisa goes on to say,

43:47

does this make sense? Yes, 100%.

43:49

I also tried zone two for

43:51

a while and ended up feeling

43:54

like a slug and like my

43:56

running form became slug. I just

43:58

based things on RPE or rating

44:00

of perceived exertion now, but ensure

44:02

good form. Yeah, I think you

44:05

have a really great approach to

44:07

this Lisa. The other thing that

44:09

a lot of folks don't talk

44:11

about, you know, who love promoting

44:13

zone two and easy running and

44:16

mafitone method is that your form

44:18

gets better the faster your paces.

44:20

And that's just because it's harder

44:22

to run with really sloppy inefficient

44:24

form when you're running faster. So

44:27

that's why, you know, slightly faster

44:29

paces, maybe in zone three, or

44:31

maybe actually feel a little better

44:33

than what you might be running

44:36

in low zone two. So just

44:38

keep in mind, you can't do

44:40

it for a lot of your

44:42

mileage. but these are guidelines. They

44:44

are not hard and fast rules.

44:47

So, you know, take everything here

44:49

with a big grain of salt.

44:51

Okay, Brian has a follow-up question.

44:53

As a reminder, January 20th is

44:55

his start of a 16-week marathon

44:58

training cycle. So Brian runs six

45:00

days a week, and he's been

45:02

doing one workout a week. He's

45:04

been doing either a fart like

45:06

or 200 to 800 meter repeats.

45:09

Should I start doing more tempo

45:11

work? I'm coming off of training

45:13

for my turkey trot in a

45:15

5K this Sunday. First 5K since

45:17

high school. Wow, that is fun.

45:20

I would love to see more

45:22

runners race some of these middle

45:24

distances. They are intense, but really

45:26

fun. So, no, Brian, I don't

45:29

think you have to switch and

45:31

start doing more tempo work because

45:33

you're going to get a lot

45:35

of that kind of training in

45:37

your marathon training. And so what

45:40

I would do is maintain your

45:42

intensity, you know, don't do any

45:44

more, you probably don't need that.

45:46

You may even want to decrease

45:48

the intensity a little bit, you

45:51

know, maybe focus on 400s and

45:53

200s or something like that, rather

45:55

than, you know, the longer repetitions,

45:57

which tend to be more stressful.

45:59

So the volume in the volume

46:01

in the length of your repetitions

46:03

might decrease, but maybe you're a

46:05

them a little bit faster. As

46:07

long long as you take that

46:10

little bit of recovery time. between

46:12

this between this current season and

46:14

your upcoming marathon season, will that will

46:16

to me me that you're just starting

46:18

the next season well season You

46:20

don't wanna turn. You don't You

46:22

know, this, you know, this. kind of into

46:24

one giant season and you're just

46:26

gonna be fatigued. You know, something has

46:28

to give and it's probably gonna be

46:31

your running to be your that point. point.

46:33

All right, All right, another question. the

46:35

program, the program, this is a

46:37

different sorry, I Sorry, I was confused

46:39

for a second. a Hey, Brian, Brian

46:41

with a with why? Can the Can the program

46:43

be switchable based on demanded work

46:45

schedule? Is it better to take off

46:47

training off switch? switch? the workouts or the

46:50

the days around. Yeah, great Yeah,

46:52

great question. training training plan.

46:54

So, flexible. is coming from a you know, coach.

46:57

is coming from a running coach, part

46:59

of my livelihood comes from selling

47:01

training plans. And I'll be the first

47:03

one to say written written

47:05

in pencil, you can change things around.

47:08

Here's a couple of guidelines I

47:10

would give you if you

47:12

have to modify your training plan

47:14

based on your schedule. So you're

47:16

probably gonna notice that the hardest

47:18

days of the week are

47:20

roughly evenly scheduled from each other.

47:22

You're gonna get one, two,

47:24

or three days in between. workouts

47:27

and your your long run, depending on,

47:29

you know, the difficulty of the training

47:31

plan. plan. So for example, you might

47:34

do a Tuesday workout in a

47:36

Saturday and a Saturday you might do a Monday

47:38

a Monday a Wednesday workout, and a

47:40

Saturday long run. You'll see that we're

47:42

basically taking one or two days, or

47:44

or sometimes three, depending on the

47:47

plan, in between the hard days. days. This

47:49

is the This is the pattern that

47:51

I would encourage you to continue following

47:53

so that that you're not just your your

47:55

training super dense. dense. You're not just

47:57

putting a lot of quality or a lot of...

47:59

a volume too close together, because

48:01

that's just going to make it

48:04

more likely that you get some

48:06

type of running injury. I don't

48:08

want that to happen. The other

48:10

thing that I'll say is that

48:13

some runs are more important than

48:15

others. So let's say you run

48:17

a moderate distance on a Thursday.

48:19

It includes some goal marathon pace

48:22

running in that workout. So it's

48:24

not your hardest workout of the

48:26

week, but it is a second

48:28

workout. Your prior workout might have

48:30

been on Tuesday. Let's say that

48:33

you can't run the easy recovery

48:35

run and strides that might be

48:37

scheduled for Friday, and you're supposed

48:39

to have a long run on

48:42

Saturday. I would just skip that

48:44

run. The three-mile run is not

48:46

nearly as important as your long

48:48

run as either of the workouts

48:51

that are included in your plan.

48:53

And so this really speaks to...

48:55

which workout or run during the

48:57

week is most important. I would

48:59

say it's the long run for

49:02

most of us, especially if we're

49:04

training for the half marathon or

49:06

the marathon, or it's the faster

49:08

workout. That's probably the number one

49:11

and number two most important runs

49:13

of the week. This is where

49:15

we are driving your fitness forward

49:17

as much as any one run

49:20

can. Now the third most important

49:22

run of the week is going

49:24

to be the secondary easier workout

49:26

if there is one or the

49:29

next longest run. We're basically going

49:31

to order our workouts from most

49:33

stressful to least stressful. And then

49:35

say, well, the most stressful workouts

49:37

are the most important workouts because

49:40

we're going to gain the most

49:42

fitness from them. And a recovery

49:44

run or just an easy base

49:46

run isn't going to be as

49:49

important as the others. So I

49:51

would rather you... Skip an easy

49:53

run so that you can prioritize

49:55

a more important run. But if

49:58

you maybe can't run on a

50:00

Saturday, and so you're thinking about

50:02

skipping your long run, I would

50:04

just do the long run on

50:06

a Sunday. and skip whatever was

50:09

planned on Sunday. So you might

50:11

have a long run Saturday and

50:13

some cross training on Sunday, or

50:15

maybe just a short run on

50:18

Sunday. I would instead just take

50:20

Saturday off because you have to,

50:22

and then do your long run

50:24

on Sunday. So you're still getting

50:27

in that really important run of

50:29

the week, and we're just skipping

50:31

some of the other less important

50:33

stuff. But it's always helpful to

50:35

remember that training plans are flexible.

50:38

You can shuffle around the workouts.

50:40

Just try to adhere to the

50:42

spirit of the training plan. You

50:44

know, the general pattern of training

50:47

is fairly important. You know, when

50:49

I look at training plans, I

50:51

sometimes feel like Neo seeing the

50:53

matrix. You know, I'm looking at

50:56

progressions. I'm looking at the pattern

50:58

of training. I'm looking at how

51:00

things evolve over time. And so

51:02

those are some of the more

51:05

important things to look at. And

51:07

that'll help inform you. what runs

51:09

are more important and you should

51:11

prioritize during the week. Another follow-up

51:13

from Brian. I follow two to

51:16

three days in between important runs

51:18

like long runs and speedy workouts.

51:20

That's great. If I were to

51:22

do a VO2 Max testing day,

51:25

is that a reliable way to

51:27

go figure out my paces to

51:29

stay between threshold one and threshold

51:31

two? Ryan, I'm not sure I

51:34

entirely understand the question. If you

51:36

were to get a VO2 Max

51:38

test, you would have to follow

51:40

up with the testing organization to

51:42

see if they're just going to

51:45

give you a number because that's

51:47

sort of how the result of

51:49

a VO2 Max test is given.

51:51

Sometimes they give you extra information

51:54

too. So it might be a

51:56

VO2 Max test, but during the

51:58

VO2 Max test, they can also

52:00

test your ventilatory threshold. and use

52:03

that as a proxy for your

52:05

lack. threshold. That's possible, but it

52:07

does depend on the lab and

52:09

exactly what they're testing for, because

52:11

some places do different tests for

52:14

different things. So you might do

52:16

a VO2 Max test, you might

52:18

do a lactate threshold test, and

52:20

that's what they offer. The lactate

52:23

threshold test, I think, is probably

52:25

the more valuable of the tests

52:27

that you could potentially get. because

52:29

it's likely going to include your

52:32

first threshold, which is the zone

52:34

two boundary. And just as a

52:36

quick refresher for everyone, you've got

52:38

three thresholds. You've got the boundary

52:41

between zone two and zone three.

52:43

That's when lactate levels begin to

52:45

rise. You have your second threshold.

52:47

This is your lactate threshold. This

52:49

is when lactate levels start rising

52:52

unsustainable and you have to start

52:54

running anaerobically because there's not enough.

52:56

oxygen to process all that lactate.

52:58

And then there's your VO2 Max.

53:01

This is the threshold of the

53:03

maximum amount of oxygen that your

53:05

muscles can utilize per minute. And

53:07

so once you're beyond VO2 Max,

53:10

you're running on very borrowed time.

53:12

So, you know, most workout, most

53:14

races that are basically... I think

53:16

it's like eight or nine minutes

53:18

is like the classic VO2 Max

53:21

amount of time. And so, you

53:23

know, just looking at a race

53:25

for myself, for some runners, that's

53:27

a mile. For me, like my

53:30

PR in the 3,000 meters, for

53:32

example, is 904. And it's probably

53:34

no surprise that the indoor 3K

53:36

was the most terrifying event for

53:39

me because it's basically a pure

53:41

VO2 Max test. It's very uncomfortable.

53:43

It's a very painful race. And

53:45

so, you know, you're basically in

53:47

oxygen debt and running very uncomfortably

53:50

a minute or two into a

53:52

3K. And then You

53:54

just have to

53:56

grind through it

53:59

and push and push

54:01

very uncomfortable. very So

54:03

anyway, all that to say, all that to say,

54:05

do think there's a lot of value in

54:07

these tests. know, I recently had a

54:09

VO2 You know, done. I just think it's fun.

54:11

I think it's interesting to know that

54:14

data. It's not really going to to know that data.

54:16

It's you train, going to affect how

54:18

you a lactate threshold test may

54:20

influence how you train because then

54:22

you'll be able to run more

54:24

effective able to workouts and threshold workouts

54:26

I think are some of some of... the

54:28

most valuable workouts that

54:30

distance runners. distance run because

54:32

you're essentially you're increasing the

54:35

pace you can run you can

54:37

run and there is. there is few

54:40

other physiological metrics

54:42

that we that we can focus

54:44

on are are going to improve

54:46

our race performances better better being

54:48

able to run faster without

54:50

going into oxygen It's a wonderful

54:53

skill. So if you have the

54:55

option, have the option, I would try to

54:57

to get the lactate threshold test.

55:00

test. And in terms terms of Max

55:02

if you are going to get

55:04

a VO2 max test, a VO2 Max would

55:06

get it when you think your

55:08

VO2 max is at its highest.

55:10

And so is at question is, well,

55:12

when is your VO2 max the

55:14

at its highest? It's probably when is your

55:17

VO2 training. at

55:19

say, 5K training.

55:21

probably at peak You know,

55:23

during, say, during base training or at

55:25

the beginning of marathon training, you're

55:27

probably not going to get a

55:30

higher going to get you

55:32

could Max test than you basically

55:34

trained to run a really

55:36

fast trained to run a really fast think of

55:38

it as, I think are you

55:40

most likely to run the fastest?

55:42

to run the fastest 3K or 5K race?

55:44

Well, at the end of a at the end

55:46

of a 5k training plan. certainly

55:49

could certainly look at it from that perspective. If

55:52

If getting the highest VO2 max score

55:54

wasn't the goal and you just

55:57

wanted to see trends over time,

55:59

then then you could go. and get a VO2

56:01

Max test every month. I'm a

56:03

little hesitant to do that because

56:05

it's a little bit of a

56:07

vanity metric. Again, it's not really

56:09

gonna inform how you train. And

56:11

if you're doing a VO2 Max

56:13

test every month, you know, it's

56:15

like, well, you're basically doing this

56:17

really hard workout every month, and

56:19

there are some months of the

56:21

year where you don't wanna be

56:23

doing any hard workouts, right? Like

56:25

the month after your marathon, So

56:27

I might take a little bit

56:29

of a hybrid approach, sort of

56:31

a man of moderation. So you

56:33

know, you could get it maybe

56:35

every month in season, but then

56:37

when your season ends and you're

56:39

taking some time off or you're

56:41

at the very beginning of a

56:43

season and you're just kind of

56:45

building back into it, I would

56:47

say, ah, let's just not do

56:49

a VO2 Max test there. It's

56:51

just not really going to help

56:54

you in any significant way. Okay,

56:56

Lisa has another question. Why does

56:58

it feel easy aerobically to do

57:00

sprints of 30 seconds or less,

57:02

but suddenly so much harder to

57:04

go fast at a slower pace

57:06

for three minutes or more? Is

57:08

this true for everyone or does

57:10

it signify an area that needs

57:12

training? Oh, Lisa, this is such

57:15

a great question. I love this

57:17

question. Okay. This is because short

57:19

reps of 30 seconds or less

57:21

are barely anaerobic. You might be

57:23

running an anaerobic pace, but you're

57:25

not even giving your body enough

57:27

time to run through all of

57:29

its oxygen supply and then start

57:31

working anaerobically. And so if you

57:33

look at really short reps, so

57:35

let's say you do classic hill

57:37

sprints, eight seconds, max speed, full

57:39

recovery of the steepest hill you

57:41

can find. This is almost like

57:43

weightlifting. This is almost like a

57:45

true speed development workout that a

57:47

sprinter might do. This workout is

57:49

neither aerobic, nor is it anaerobic.

57:51

primarily drawing on the elactic system

57:53

for energy for this kind of

57:55

a workout. It's, it's, you know,

57:57

just think like, you basically have

58:00

to burn through some oxygen before

58:02

you start running anaerobically. So that's

58:04

why, like, if you're running a

58:06

three-minute or more rep, let's say

58:08

you're a six-minute miler, the first

58:10

minute of the mile is going

58:12

to be aerobicobic because... It's almost

58:14

like you're burning through fuel. In

58:16

a certain sense, oxygen is your

58:18

fuel. You're gonna burn through that

58:20

fuel, and then all of a

58:22

sudden you're gonna go anaerobic, and

58:24

you're gonna have a certain amount

58:26

of time that you can run

58:28

anaerobically before you just start fading,

58:30

you're gonna have to slow down.

58:32

And so the short reps, you're

58:34

just not even giving yourself enough

58:36

time to really go anaerobic. So

58:38

that's why it doesn't really feel

58:40

very hard. and then it's over.

58:42

And so, you know, you can

58:44

actually have an anaerobic or even

58:47

a lactic pace to a certain

58:49

repetition, but if the distance is

58:51

so, or the duration is so

58:53

short, you know, you're not even

58:55

going to be stressing either, you

58:57

know, you're not going to stress

58:59

the anaerobic system because you're actually

59:01

still aerobicobic the whole time. You

59:03

know, you never even had the

59:05

chance to go anaerobic. So yeah,

59:07

that's some of the physiology behind

59:09

some of those, some of those

59:11

efforts. So that doesn't mean that

59:13

you have some deficiency that you

59:15

need to work on. That doesn't

59:17

mean that, you know, you're really

59:19

bad at the VO2 Mac stuff,

59:21

but you're good at the speed

59:23

and endurance stuff, you know, that

59:25

could be true. But that's not

59:27

necessarily true just because it feels

59:29

easy to do, say a 50

59:31

to 150 or maybe 200 meter.

59:34

interval. Those are just short. They're

59:36

short, they're speedy, they test. more

59:38

your power, your coordination, your speed,

59:40

rather than your energy pathway physiology.

59:42

That was a great question. Good

59:44

stuff Lisa. I love how you're

59:46

keeping me on my toes. All

59:48

right, we're gonna keep going. I

59:50

love it. Carla, is it bad

59:52

to cross-train when injured in higher

59:54

zones? When spinning and pool running,

59:56

I'm easily in zone three for

59:58

much of the workout and zone

1:00:00

four for a bit too. Since

1:00:02

I'm not pounding the pavement, I

1:00:04

feel like I can make these

1:00:06

sessions into workouts, but maybe I

1:00:08

need to work in some long

1:00:10

slow efforts as well. Yeah, I

1:00:12

would agree with both things. On

1:00:14

the one hand, you're not experiencing

1:00:16

the mechanical wear and tear or

1:00:19

the impact of running at higher

1:00:21

paces. So even if your heart

1:00:23

rates higher, you're not experiencing the

1:00:25

same kind of stress as if

1:00:27

you were running. So on the

1:00:29

one hand, no, it's not bad

1:00:31

to cross-train with higher heart rates.

1:00:33

But on the other hand, I

1:00:35

do think there's also value in

1:00:37

doing a longer, slower effort. So

1:00:39

have a little bit of a

1:00:41

hybrid approach here. You can kind

1:00:43

of see like my, some of

1:00:45

my coaching philosophies or I don't

1:00:47

really like to go to too

1:00:49

many extremes. There's real value in

1:00:51

being a moderate when it comes

1:00:53

to training. Now, one question I

1:00:55

do have for you, Carla, is

1:00:57

how do you know your heart

1:00:59

rate when you are in the

1:01:01

pool doing pool running? Because... That

1:01:03

makes me think you might be

1:01:06

relying on just the wrist sensor

1:01:08

on your watch, which is notoriously

1:01:10

not accurate. So I would encourage

1:01:12

you not to wear, or not

1:01:14

to rely on heart rate from

1:01:16

the wrist sensor on your watch,

1:01:18

if that's what you're doing. Let's

1:01:20

get an armband from Coros. They

1:01:22

have a great one that I

1:01:24

use personally. You can also get

1:01:26

a chest strap from a lot

1:01:28

of different brands. Those are the

1:01:30

two. higher quality ways of measuring

1:01:32

your heart rate. And one of

1:01:34

the reasons why I'm curious is

1:01:36

because pool running typically will

1:01:38

give you a

1:01:40

lower heart rate

1:01:42

because of the

1:01:44

effect of the

1:01:46

water. of the water. So

1:01:48

going to keep

1:01:50

you cooler keep you

1:01:53

because of the

1:01:55

pressure of the

1:01:57

water, it's harder

1:01:59

for your heart

1:02:01

rate to get

1:02:03

higher. So in

1:02:05

two different ways,

1:02:07

the water is

1:02:09

going to be

1:02:11

constraining your heart

1:02:13

rate. So. is gonna be

1:02:15

even if you're pool your heart rate.

1:02:17

So even if an effort that

1:02:19

feels like. that feels like or

1:02:21

3. or three, you might have a a

1:02:23

zone one or two heart rate in the

1:02:26

water. the water. So I've always found it to

1:02:28

be very difficult to get your heart rate up

1:02:30

in the water, both for me and clients just

1:02:32

because of that. and clients, just let yeah, me know a

1:02:34

little bit more details about that. I'd be curious. bit

1:02:37

more How that's working for you. curious course,

1:02:39

if you're on the bike, you know You

1:02:41

can get your heart rate up much easier bike,

1:02:43

if you're pool can for sure heart rate

1:02:45

up much easier says thanks, I'll get

1:02:47

a better running, for sure. Okay, Carla I

1:02:49

just wonder if you might be

1:02:51

getting an artificially high reading. be

1:02:53

getting an because for me. reading.

1:02:55

You know, know, the the thing with the

1:02:57

risk -based sensors. Sometimes they

1:03:00

work for people, sometimes they

1:03:02

don't. they don't. And so because

1:03:04

they're unreliable, I'm not saying they

1:03:06

never not saying They're just. work. They're so

1:03:08

I just, I don't really

1:03:10

trust them too much, especially

1:03:12

if they're informing too much, how

1:03:14

you are structuring the you are

1:03:17

you know, let's not structure

1:03:19

a You based on suspect data.

1:03:21

based on suspect data. So I'd be curious. What

1:03:24

your your hooray might be were you

1:03:26

were to wear, a say, a waterproof

1:03:28

chest or be in the pool. That'd

1:03:30

be an interesting experiment, Carla, just to

1:03:32

kind of see how you do Okay, a

1:03:34

quick question about a quick question

1:03:36

about hills I live Florida, live in Florida

1:03:38

have we don't have those around

1:03:40

here. just had a funny, call I I just had

1:03:42

a coaching call earlier with a runner from

1:03:44

Florida and we talked about hill training. Would you

1:03:46

suggest you suggest adding in some treadmill running? I

1:03:48

running? I running? know I won't get the downhill

1:03:51

benefits, but is it better than nothing? nothing? Yeah,

1:03:53

yeah, I yeah, hill I, I

1:03:55

is training is incredibly valuable.

1:03:57

I know some I know some

1:03:59

runners. who run on overpasses, you know,

1:04:01

those big bridges, you know, I'm

1:04:04

kind of thinking in Jacksonville, there's

1:04:06

a lot of bridges that go

1:04:08

over some rivers, obviously in other

1:04:10

parts of Florida too. I've had

1:04:12

some athletes in Florida run up

1:04:14

parking garage ramps, which admittedly makes

1:04:16

me very nervous because I'm just.

1:04:18

thinking they're going to get hit

1:04:20

by a car. So there are

1:04:22

some options in Florida, but maybe

1:04:24

the best one is the treadmill

1:04:26

because you have a lot more

1:04:29

control. I know you're not getting

1:04:31

the downhill benefits, but those pale

1:04:33

in comparison to the uphill benefits.

1:04:35

And Melanie says, I ask partially

1:04:37

because my ultimate long-term bucketless goal

1:04:39

is to run Boston, and as

1:04:41

a former Boston resident, I know

1:04:43

the topography is a little lot.

1:04:45

different. Yes, that's very true. I

1:04:47

wouldn't worry about it too much

1:04:49

though, Melanie. Like if this is

1:04:52

not for an upcoming race, you

1:04:54

wouldn't have to necessarily try to

1:04:56

get in hills for, you know,

1:04:58

this potential future Boston that might

1:05:00

be years down the road. I

1:05:02

would just work on trying to

1:05:04

get in as good of shape

1:05:06

as possible because studies have shown

1:05:08

that the best hill runners are

1:05:10

actually the runners who were just

1:05:12

the most aerobically fit. You know,

1:05:15

they have the most endurance, so

1:05:17

the hill is just going to

1:05:19

be less stressful for them. Not

1:05:21

to say that some incline running

1:05:23

is not going to be helpful

1:05:25

from a mechanical perspective, just helping

1:05:27

you also psychologically get ready to

1:05:29

be running on those inclines. So

1:05:31

what I would do is run

1:05:33

hill workouts on a treadmill. Instead

1:05:35

of doing a jog down recovery,

1:05:37

you'll just lower the incline back

1:05:40

down to say zero percent, you

1:05:42

know, jog for 90 seconds or

1:05:44

two minutes, and then get the

1:05:46

incline back up to, you know,

1:05:48

maybe seven or eight percent for

1:05:50

the hill workout. Or if you

1:05:52

wanted to end your run with

1:05:54

maybe 10 or 15 minutes of

1:05:56

incline running at a much slower

1:05:58

effort, you could certainly do that

1:06:00

too. Both are good ways of

1:06:03

getting in. some vertical in your

1:06:05

training. The incline running at the

1:06:07

end of a run, I would

1:06:09

say, is better for ultra-marathoners, whereas

1:06:11

doing an actual hill workout is

1:06:13

better for everyone else. So marathoners

1:06:15

and anyone training for a shorter

1:06:17

race, you probably want the stress

1:06:19

of running repetitions at a faster

1:06:21

pace, rather than a one longer

1:06:23

bout on the incline. All right,

1:06:26

guys, this was a fantastic. team

1:06:28

strength running, coaches, chat. We didn't

1:06:30

have a huge group on today,

1:06:32

but I know it's the holiday

1:06:34

season. So I just really want

1:06:36

to thank everyone for showing up

1:06:38

for bringing their A game with

1:06:40

these questions. Fantastic questions. I loved

1:06:42

how specific they were, but also,

1:06:44

you know, a little more philosophical

1:06:46

on when to think about different

1:06:48

things in your training. All right,

1:06:51

one last final follow up. Do

1:06:53

you think doing lunges and other

1:06:55

quad heavy strength is good for

1:06:57

downhill training? Yeah, simply yes. I

1:06:59

would say any strength training is

1:07:01

going to be good for downhill

1:07:03

training, you know, because it's a

1:07:05

full body exercise. It does tend

1:07:07

to focus on the quads. So

1:07:09

you certainly want to be doing

1:07:11

your lunges, your squats, but don't

1:07:14

don't miss any of the other

1:07:16

types of strength training that it's

1:07:18

going to be really valuable for

1:07:20

runners like. Deadlifting and things like

1:07:22

that that are going to be

1:07:24

Just really helpful generally speaking for

1:07:26

downhill training You don't necessarily have

1:07:28

to focus so specifically on quads

1:07:30

I think it's always helpful to

1:07:32

know that Distance runners should focus

1:07:34

on movements not muscles. We are

1:07:37

not bodybuilders. So don't exclusively focus

1:07:39

on the quads, but yeah, make

1:07:41

sure you're doing your lunges make

1:07:43

sure that you're doing your squats

1:07:45

and you should be good to

1:07:47

go All right, my friends, thank

1:07:49

you so much for tuning in

1:07:51

to this team strength running coaches

1:07:53

chat I'll be in touch about

1:07:55

our next coaches chat and until

1:07:57

then Do you you

1:07:59

have any questions, always,

1:08:02

you can can always tag me in

1:08:04

our private forum be sure I'll be

1:08:06

sure to get back to you

1:08:08

as soon as possible. Have a

1:08:10

wonderful day, guys. What an Talk soon.

1:08:12

Thank you so an episode. and Thank you

1:08:14

so much for listening and being

1:08:17

here. of our community here. If

1:08:19

you're getting value from the Strength podcast,

1:08:21

if the if the show has helped

1:08:23

you're made you you how you approach

1:08:25

your training, please consider leaving a

1:08:27

review or a rating in Apple, Spotify, or

1:08:29

or wherever you listen. Those reviews

1:08:32

are incredibly impactful and helpful for

1:08:34

this small business. If

1:08:36

you have questions about your

1:08:38

running, feel free to email

1:08:40

me at support email me at.com or

1:08:42

you can search our website

1:08:44

at strengthrunning.com. For more digestible

1:08:46

tips, videos, memes, and more,

1:08:48

follow me on Instagram more follow

1:08:50

me on We'll be in

1:08:52

touch. Fitz1. We'll be in touch.